City Works To Head Off Balloon-Related Injuries

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With a set of new safety procedures in place, city officials are aiming to avoid a repeat of last year’s mishap during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, when a wayward M&M balloon got caught on a light pole and injured two revelers.

The city says it will place anemometers to measure wind speed at each of seven intersections along the parade route so officials can make on-the-spot determinations about whether to raise or lower the famous large balloons. As a precaution, organizers have also pushed back crowd locations in certain areas.

The new protocol is part of a set of recommendations issued in September by the mayor’s Thanksgiving Parade Safety Task Force.

While Thursday’s forecast calls for moderate to strong winds, officials said they hope the weather will cooperate and allow the traditional floats and giant balloons to hit the sky.

The National Weather Service is predicting winds of 10 to 20 mph in the city Thursday. Parade organizers said sustained winds of 23 mph or higher with gusts of 34 mph would prohibit the use of large balloons.

“It would be a very sad thing if we couldn’t have the balloons, but making sure people are safe comes first,” Mayor Bloomberg told reporters yesterday in the Bronx. “But I think you’ll find that the wind gods are with us.”

The mayor urged parade-goers to dress warm, but they shouldn’t need umbrellas: The forecast for Thanksgiving is sunny skies and highs in the mid-50s.

Sudden gusts of wind last year caused a 515-pound M &M balloon to become entangled with a streetlight near Times Square. The lamp head was pulled off, landing among spectators and sending two young women to the hospital with minor injuries. The accident came eight years after a similar incident in which a giant Cat-in-the-Hat balloon struck a light pole and injured four people.


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